Chapter 259

Sure enough, after exiting the class group chat, he saw that Jiang Tianming, Wu Mingbai, and Lan Subing had each sent him a message, all with more or less the same meaning—“The mole isn’t you, is it?”

Too lazy to reply to them one by one, Su Bei responded directly in the small group chat they had created before going to Moyun City.

【Cardinal: Do you take me for an idiot?】

Although his words weren’t very pleasant, the three people in the group couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when they saw his reply. Su Bei was right; if he were really the mole, he would definitely be trying his best to hide his identity.

So, at that time, they had only accidentally witnessed the transaction between Su Bei and Cyril. With Su Bei’s abilities, if he were truly being cautious, how could he have been seen so easily?

Besides, he showed no intention of explaining himself after being seen, almost completely brushing them off. Judging solely from his righteous and confident demeanor, he didn’t seem like the mole the Black Flash Organization had planted in their class.

【Death’s Arrival: Then Su Bei, do you know who the mole is?】

【Cardinal: You guess.】

Getting this reply, Jiang Tianming immediately stopped asking. Based on his understanding of Su Bei, the other party would definitely not answer this question. As for whether he knew who the mole was, Jiang Tianming believed that Su Bei did, he just wasn’t willing to say.

That was indeed the case. Su Bei closed his phone and continued reading through the Destiny organization’s database. There was too much miscellaneous information in it; he had to hurry up and memorize it.

Perhaps it was because the author intentionally wanted him to have more interactions with the Black Flash Organization, but around noon, Su Bei actually received a cooperation request from them.

Destiny was an intelligence organization, that was true, but it could also be commissioned for missions. For instance, when Su Bei previously helped Black Flash retrieve the space lock, it was a mission, not purely intelligence work.

The content of the cooperation was simple: to coordinate with the mole in Endless Ability Academy’s first-year S-Class to kill Zhou Renjie. Given that the existence of a mole in S-Class and their desire for revenge on Zhou Renjie were no longer secrets, they didn’t hide these facts. They just didn’t disclose the mole’s identity or the specific mission plan in advance.

Looking at this mission, Su Bei hesitated for a moment before quickly closing the interface. Although he was very tempted and wanted to use this mission to find out the Black Flash Organization’s plan ahead of time, he couldn’t accept it for the sake of his reputation.

It was a known fact that he had a 100% completion rate for every mission he accepted, and the ultimate goal of this mission was to kill Zhou Renjie. So, if he didn’t want to kill him, he couldn’t accept this mission.

Although he couldn’t know the specific plan of the Black Flash Organization, he could confirm that they were indeed going to make a move on Zhou Renjie, and Mo Xiaotian would be the one to do it personally. Therefore, the forum readers’ deductions were correct: if they used Zhou Renjie as bait, they could likely find Mo Xiaotian.

Su Bei didn’t know what others would think upon seeing this news, but he, for one, was relieved. This matter was clearly unrelated to him. Even if the old scoundrel of an author used him as a shield, it was only the most superficial kind; the plot wouldn’t affect him at all.

After a two-day rest, Zhou Renjie finally returned to the academy on the third day. It was the first time they had seen him in months. As expected, he was much thinner, just like in the comic. Although still plump, he looked much healthier than his previously very unhealthy appearance.

Su Bei estimated that the original Zhou Renjie was around 170 jin, but now he was probably only 150 jin.

By this time, everyone in the class except for Feng Lan and Ling You had also returned. Seeing Zhou Renjie, they immediately gathered around to greet him. Zhao Xiaoyu was the first to speak: “Long time no see, Renjie. It’s great to hear you’ve returned safely!”

Actually, what she really wanted to say was, “It’s great to hear you didn’t actually defect,” but saying that would seem untrusting, so she changed her words at the last minute.

“Truly impressive!” Although Qi Huang’s relationship with him was average, they were original classmates, so she praised him generously. “You going undercover has really outshone all of us who participated in the competition.”

“It must have been really tough during this time. Did the academy give you any time off?” This time, it was Mu Tieren who asked.

Everyone could see that he had lost weight and could naturally imagine the hardships he must have endured while undercover in the Black Flash Organization. It would be rather unfortunate if he had to come to school right after finishing his mission, which was why Mu Tieren asked.

At this moment, Zhou Renjie was indeed much more mature than before. He didn’t get carried away by everyone’s praise. Hearing Mu Tieren’s words, he nodded and then shook his head, “They said they wanted to give me a few days off, but I refused. I haven’t been at the academy for a while, so I can’t fall too far behind you all.”

“Oh, come on. You’re much stronger than before.” Ai Baozhu immediately exposed his false modesty and said to the others, “He can now swallow three people at once, and his ability’s defense is super strong. Once you’re trapped inside, you can’t get out at all. Right, Zhaohua?”

Si Zhaohua nodded affirmatively. He had personally experienced the defensive capabilities of Zhou Renjie’s stomach now. Although he knew there wouldn’t be a problem when he was swallowed at the time, as he had already coordinated the plan with Zhou Renjie beforehand.

But to make the act convincing, Si Zhaohua had still tried to attack the internal space of Zhou Renjie’s ability, so he knew very well how difficult this space was to deal with. “Renjie’s stomach space now has no physical form at all.”

That’s right. Although it was still pitch black all around like before, this time he couldn’t touch any fleshy walls. It was as if the inside was an infinite space; no matter how far he walked, he couldn’t reach the end. A place without boundaries gave him nothing to attack, so naturally, he couldn’t break through and escape.

“That powerful?” Everyone was a bit surprised. Although they had long guessed that Zhou Renjie’s strength would improve to some extent during his time with the Black Flash Organization, they hadn’t expected such a qualitative leap.

A proud smile inevitably appeared on Zhou Renjie’s face as he was praised on the right points. He coughed to hide his smile, patted his round belly, and coaxed, “If you don’t believe me, you can give it a try.”

It was obvious he wanted to trap everyone to show off his strength. However, even though they saw through his mischievous intent, everyone was indeed very curious about how to get out of his stomach, so they were all eager to try.

At this moment, Mo Xiaotian, who had been silent since Zhou Renjie’s return, suddenly spoke up: “Can I give it a try?”

Hearing this, Su Bei glanced at Mo Xiaotian before quickly looking away. Even if Mo Xiaotian wanted to take revenge on Zhou Renjie, he wouldn’t do it in public. Otherwise, he’d have no chance to escape.

Zhou Renjie also looked at Mo Xiaotian, his expression unchanging, as if to subtly tell him that he held no grudges about what happened back then and that his attitude towards him was no different from his attitude towards anyone else. “Of course, you can. But let’s go three at a time to save some time. If you’re not out after half an hour, I’ll let you out myself. Who else wants to go?”

“Me, me, me!” Qi Huang immediately raised her hand, followed by Mu Tieren, who also raised his hand with great curiosity.

After they were swallowed, the candidates for the second group were already decided. The only ones who hadn’t signed up were Su Bei, Wu Jin, Si Zhaohua, and Ai Baozhu.

Even Zhao Xiaoyu, who had no offensive capabilities against humans, couldn’t resist the temptation and wanted to experience it from the inside. Curiosity drove her to explore the space within Zhou Renjie’s belly, provided it was safe enough, of course.

“Su Bei, are you really not going to try?” Zhou Renjie urged. “I think you could get out with your ability.”

Of course, he didn’t actually believe that. He just wanted to trap Su Bei with his ability. After all, Su Bei had always been the omnipotent figure in the class. If he could really trap him, it would be a huge accomplishment.

Another reason was that there was no need to invite the other three. Si Zhaohua had already tried it, Wu Jin had few offensive methods, and Ai Baozhu would never voluntarily enter his stomach. Indeed, only Su Bei had a chance of breaking through his ability.

“A polite refusal.” However, Su Bei wasn’t the least bit tempted. Like Ai Baozhu, he had no desire to enter someone’s stomach. Even if there was no saliva inside, he still found it disgusting.

But speaking of which, Su Bei could definitely escape from Zhou Renjie’s stomach space. His ability ignored physical defenses and could directly act on an opponent’s destiny. Whether it was making Zhou Renjie sick, killing him directly, or simply adjusting his own status to “outside,” he could leave with ease.

When the half-hour was up, the three re-emerged with regret. Qi Huang was full of emotion, “My ability is completely useless in there. Is that really the space inside your stomach? It’s so much stronger than before.”

Previously, if she released flames inside Zhou Renjie’s stomach, he would have to let her out immediately, or he would soon be burned. One could say that Qi Huang was a perfect counter to Zhou Renjie.

But now, that trick no longer worked. Her flames could only touch the floor of the space; there were no boundaries elsewhere. And the only surface she could touch seemed to have its defense maxed out, remaining completely unfazed no matter how Qi Huang’s flames raged.

It was clear that Zhou Renjie had made tremendous progress during his time with the Black Flash Organization, perhaps even more than he had in the entire past year.

After coming out of the stomach space, Mo Xiaotian finally returned to normal and couldn’t help but ask with starry eyes, “So amazing! Was it an enhancement you got from the Black Flash Organization?”

“Enhancement? In reality, they were just using me for experiments,” Zhou Renjie said with a sarcastic smile, now that someone had finally asked. “They didn’t really want to strengthen me; they just wanted to use me as a test subject for their drugs. I was just lucky that none of the drugs I tested had any problems.”

To gain their trust, he had no choice but to accept their “enhancements.” In the end, he did become stronger, but it was impossible for him to be grateful to them.

Hearing him say this, obvious surprise flashed in Mo Xiaotian’s eyes. “How could that be? Shouldn’t they… value talented individuals?”

He almost blurted out what he originally wanted to say, but fortunately, Mo Xiaotian reacted in time and changed his wording, avoiding blowing his cover.

“Why are you still so naive?” Zhou Renjie looked at him with an expression of exasperation, advising him in the tone of someone with experience, “Even for exceptionally talented individuals, to the Black Flash Organization, they are just slightly more valuable consumables. Not to mention I’m not that powerful yet.”

Mo Xiaotian pressed his lips together, the familiar look of confusion flashing in his eyes. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, only managed, “How could this be?”

Normally, this unusual reaction should have aroused suspicion. But when Mo Xiaotian said this, he was facing Su Bei, who was standing alone in one direction. Therefore, only Su Bei saw his abnormal behavior; everyone else only heard his voice and assumed he was simply confused.

And the only one who noticed his abnormality, Su Bei, already knew his identity, so he wouldn’t say anything even if he noticed.

A bewildered Mo Xiaotian walked over to Su Bei’s side. “Brother Bei, do you need to go to the bathroom?”

What an uncreative way to ask someone to talk, Su Bei was speechless. But seeing as the guy seemed to have something to say to him, he still nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go together.”

Seeing him agree, Mo Xiaotian’s mood instantly brightened again. He bounced and said, “Yay!” then happily walked out with Su Bei.

The two went down to the area under the stairs. Mo Xiaotian didn’t ask why Su Bei had brought him here when they were supposed to be going to the bathroom. He just asked directly with sparkling eyes, “You’re from the Destiny organization, right?”

Su Bei didn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he tilted his head and asked back, “The Saint of the Black Flash Organization?”

“Amazing! Brother Bei, you really knew!” Mo Xiaotian showed no intention of hiding it and admitted it with a goofy grin.

Seeing him like this, Su Bei raised an eyebrow and suddenly said, “Someone is eavesdropping.”

The moment he said this, Mo Xiaotian’s starry eyes turned murderous. “Who?”

Seeing this, Su Bei understood instantly. It wasn’t that Mo Xiaotian no longer cared if someone guessed his identity, but because he knew Su Bei was from the Destiny organization, he didn’t care. If it were anyone else, Mo Xiaotian would still be like when they first met, revealing his killing intent the moment he sensed his identity was in danger of being exposed.

Honestly, Su Bei suspected he had been brainwashed by the Black Flash Organization. Otherwise, how could he become a completely different person the moment he thought his identity might be exposed?

“Just kidding.” Su Bei shrugged and teased, “So tense?”

Even Mo Xiaotian couldn’t help but show a speechless expression, then he bared his teeth and pounced. “Wow! Brother Bei, you’re so mean! How could you joke about something like that?”

After complaining, he started to walk back, then suddenly remembered something and quickly turned around to ask, “So, Su Bei, are you really from Destiny or not?”

“You guess.” Su Bei still had no intention of answering him.

Mo Xiaotian scratched his perpetually messy red hair in frustration, but he didn’t press the issue. Having spent so much time together, he also knew Su Bei’s personality very well. Since he didn’t say it just now, he wouldn’t say it later either.

However, Mo Xiaotian wasn’t worried. He trusted the intelligence passed on by his grandfather. Since his grandfather said Su Bei was from the Destiny organization, then he must be. Since he wasn’t on the side of justice, Mo Xiaotian believed he would absolutely not reveal his identity.

“There’s something I don’t get. Brother Bei, can you help me think it through?” Sitting on the grass of the sports field, Mo Xiaotian’s head drooped, his chin resting on his knees, looking like a sad puppy.

Su Bei was bored anyway and didn’t mind hearing some gossip. He sat next to him and said succinctly, “Speak.”

“I clearly told Grandpa to treat Zhou Renjie well, just like he treats me. But from what he said just now, it seems like he didn’t have a good time at home.” At this point, Mo Xiaotian pursed his lips, as if it was very difficult to say the next sentence. “Did Grandpa lie to me?”

Although from Zhou Renjie’s perspective, his relationship with Mo Xiaotian was rather average, only slightly better than with Jiang Tianming and the others, which was why he chose to use him to create a reason for his defection.

But in Mo Xiaotian’s eyes, he had a very good relationship with all his classmates. Even the most taciturn Wu Jin and Ling You must like him, otherwise why would they be so nice to him?

So, while “inviting” his companions to join his family, Mo Xiaotian also hoped his family would treat his companions well. If he could make Zhou Renjie feel at home in the Black Flash Organization and completely loyal to them, he wouldn’t be caught in a difficult position.

However, what Mo Xiaotian never expected was that the organization actually used Zhou Renjie for drug testing! All this time, he only knew the organization tested drugs on Nightmare Beasts; he never knew they would also test on real people. Moreover, this was a guest he had personally invited and specifically instructed them to treat well!

This act of feigning compliance while acting in defiance created a rare feeling of confusion in Mo Xiaotian’s heart. He didn’t understand why his grandfather would do this. Zhou Renjie was clearly his friend, and he had even given specific instructions, so why didn’t his grandfather treat him well?

“Obviously, your ideas aren’t exactly the same.” So it was a family drama. Su Bei instantly lost interest and replied casually.

This answer certainly didn’t resolve Mo Xiaotian’s confusion. He tugged at Su Bei’s school jacket in dissatisfaction. “Grandpa never used to lie to me! Do you think it’s because I’ve been away at school for so long that Grandpa doesn’t like me as much as he used to?”

Su Bei never knew Mo Xiaotian was so good at guilting himself. He raised the corner of his mouth in a sarcastic smile. “Did you know? When you find one cockroach in your house, it means there are already countless cockroaches hiding.”

As he spoke, he was contemplating whether he could use Mo Xiaotian’s current confusion to his advantage. The other party certainly wouldn’t betray the Black Flash Organization over a moment of confusion, that was beyond doubt.

But if he could use this to plant a thorn in his heart, perhaps it could play a crucial role at some point in the future.

After hearing his words, Mo Xiaotian fell silent. No matter how naive he was, he could understand Su Bei’s meaning: his grandfather had lied to him before, he just had never noticed.

He didn’t want to believe it, but various signs indicated that Su Bei was right. His grandfather was probably hiding other things from him.

Before he could think it through, Su Bei spoke again. “If you don’t believe it, just go back and observe quietly.”

“I plan to go back and ask Grandpa,” Mo Xiaotian had another idea.

But Su Bei didn’t want him to have such an idea. After all, Mo Xiaotian was someone who was easily swayed by those close to him. It was easy to imagine that as soon as he asked the leader of the Black Flash Organization, the leader would surely come up with a great explanation and dupe him again.

But if Mo Xiaotian didn’t ask directly and just observed quietly on his own, with his natural intuition, it shouldn’t take long for him to realize that the Black Flash Organization had indeed been deceiving him all along.

Again, this certainly wouldn’t be enough to make Mo Xiaotian betray Black Flash, but as long as it could make him hesitate at a critical moment, this move would be a success.

So Su Bei immediately tried to persuade him patiently, negating his idea. “If you ask him directly, aren’t you just showing your grandfather that you don’t trust him? What if it hurts your relationship?”

If he had just said that his grandfather wouldn’t tell the truth if asked directly, Mo Xiaotian wouldn’t have listened. But by phrasing it this way, Mo Xiaotian had to listen. He didn’t want to hurt their relationship because of his own doubts; he was unwilling to bear even the slightest risk of that happening.

After a moment’s hesitation, Mo Xiaotian chose to accept his advice. “Okay, then I’ll just observe on my own. Thanks, Brother Bei!”

Having successfully dissuaded Mo Xiaotian, Su Bei nodded in satisfaction and got up to leave.

Two more peaceful days passed, and the battle was nearing its end. The vast majority of the Interdimensional Gates had been closed, with only one remaining, but it was expected to be over soon.

Others couldn’t judge the situation, but for Su Bei and his classmates, it was incredibly simple. The return of Feng Lan and Ling You made everything crystal clear.

Ling You’s role during this period was obvious; she was practically a new type of superweapon for humanity. According to her, after this battle, she would no longer be assigned to missions outside.

Except for special circumstances, she would remain at the academy. Any occasional outings would require prior application and protection from powerful Ability users dispatched by the academy. This was to prevent surprise attacks from Nightmare Beasts, which would cause humanity to lose a major combat asset.

Previously, her missions weren’t so restricted, partly because Ling You did need the practice, and partly because she hadn’t yet truly demonstrated her value, so the Nightmare Beasts didn’t pay too much attention to a single student.

But things were different now. Ling You had fully demonstrated her power in this battle. It was easy to guess that several powerful assassin-type Nightmare Beasts were now targeting her. The moment a loophole appeared in her defenses, they would take her life in an instant.

It was worth mentioning that Zhao Xiaoyu also played a significant role in this battle. Under the government’s arrangement, she secretly ambushed several powerful Advanced Nightmare Beasts, purifying them with [Happiness] before they could even react.

Logically, she should have received the same treatment from the Nightmare Beasts as Ling You, but thanks to the government’s effective arrangements, those Advanced Nightmare Beasts had no idea who was behind the attacks, so naturally, they couldn’t target her.

Losing her freedom and being unable to leave the school at will was something Su Bei would absolutely not accept, but Ling You was not so resistant. She didn’t like going out anyway; staying at home or at school was the same to her. Besides, the academy provided room, board, and work, and didn’t completely forbid her from going out. Ling You was quite satisfied with this arrangement.

Their roles during this time were obvious, but Feng Lan’s contribution was less clear. Everyone only knew that he had made a prophecy before the battle began, but they didn’t know what else he did during the time he was gone.

In the classroom, Zhao Xiaoyu asked curiously, “So Feng Lan, did you use your ability at all during the battle?”